Piano-bench.



C. H. MARTIN.

PIANOBENCH.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 27' 1914.

1,223,086. I Patented Apr. 17, 1917.

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PIANO BENCH. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 27.19M-

Patented Apr. 17,1917.

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CHRISTIAN H. MARTIN, or lar? non, Io, assrenoa TO Jenn n. GAMMETER, or AKRON,

. OHIO.

PIANO-BENCH.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHRISTIA H. MARTIN, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Akron, in the county of Summit and State of Ohio, have invented new and useful Improvements in Piano-Benches, of which the following is a description, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, which are a part of this specification.

This invention has for its object to provide a piano bench capable of adjustment to different elevations without materially changing the appearance of the bench and preferably having a greater adjustment at one side than at the other to cause the tilting of the bench in its higher adjustment for use when operating player pianos.

Another object of the invention is to provide a piano bench in which the adj ustabi-lity is accomplished by slidably mounting thelegs in the body portion thereof preferably with the additional feature of the removability of the legs to enable them to be stored within the compartment in the body portion for convenience inshipping.

With the above and other objects in view the invention consists in the piano bench as herein claimed and all equivalents.

Referring to the accompanying drawings in which like characters of reference indicate the same parts in different views:

' Figure 1 is a plan view of a piano bench constructed in accordance with this invention, with the seat raised and showing one of the leg members contained within the compartment in the body portion;

Fig. 2 is a sectional end view thereof with the bench in its lower and horizontal posi tion the section being on the plane of line 2-2 of Fig. 1; 1

Fig. 3is a similar view with the bench in its raised and inclined position;

Fig. 4 is a similar view thereof with the. cover raised, the section being taken on the plane of line 44 of Fig. 1; and,v J

Fig. 5 is a detail view showing the manner of disconnecting one'of the leg members by sliding it through the sleeve in the corner of the body member.

In these drawings 10 indicates a rectangular body member of a box-like form with a hinge seat or cover 11 and metal sleeves 12 square in cross section located at the four corners thereof. The sleeves 12 are prefer- Specification 6f Letters Patent.

ably of metal and terminate in a bead 13 and leg members 14:, also square in cross section to fit within the sleeves, are slidably mounted therein, the leg members being of ornamental appe'aranceand capable of sliding vertically entirely through the sleeves so as to be removable and capable of being carried within the box-like body portion 10 during shipment.

Each leg member has a pivot plate 15 secured to it near its upper end, there being a slot 16 provided in the sleeve 12 to permit of the travel of the pivot plate 15 during the adjustments of the leg member.

A plate 17 with eyes 18 at its ends, one of which is seen in Fig. 5, forms a tie connection between two leg members at each end of the bench by having cotter pins 19 passing through said eyes 18 and through pro jecting ears on the pivot plates 15. At each end of the bench there is a cross bar 20 secured to the end wall of the body portion 10 by means of offset feet at the ends thereof having screws 21 passing therethrough and into the end of the body portion, or by any other means of attachment, thus holding the bar spaced from the end of the body portion. A toggle link 22 is pivotally connected at 28 to the cross bar 20 and extends diagonally acrossthe end of the body portion and its lower end is pivotally connected at 24 to an upstanding slotted lug 25 near the end of the plate 17. Near the other end of the plate 17 a pairof toggle links 26 are pivotally mount 7 Patented Apr. 17,1917.

Application filedMarch 27, 1914. Serial No. 827,557. I

ed at theirlower. ends on an upstanding lug 27 and these toggle links pass on opposite sides of the toggle link 22 and are pivotally connected thereto at 28, while at their upper ends they are connected by a rivet or pin 29 traveling in a slot 30 of the cross bar 20. The slot 30 has an offset at its end to forma shoulder behind which the pin 29 is engaged when the parts are inthe position'shown in Fig. 3 to lock the. toggle links in their spread or extended: position. The. toggle links may collapse when unlatched'by depressing the pin 29. out of engagement with the shoulder formed by the offset of the slots 30 to the position shown in Fig. 2 where they are both horizontal in the upper part of the body portion, and thus allow. the body portion of the'bench to move downwardly on the legs to lower the bench. The cross bar 20 is notched to receive the pivotal connec tions of the toggle links 26 in this position of the parts and thus enable their complete collapse. 7

During the movements of the toggle links the pivotal connections 2A and the pins 29 ride in the slots 30 and 25 respectively. The pivotal connection 28 between the two sets of toggle links is preferably nearer their front ends than their rear ends in order that when the toggle links are expanded the body portion of the bench will be inclined as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, thus producing the desirable inclination of the bench seat when raised for use in operating player pianos.

As a convenient means for raising and lowering the bench there is shown a lever 31 at each end of the bench pivotally mounted at an intermediate point 32 on a partition 33 which extends across the body portion of the bench. Both levers 31 may be swung by pulling at either end thereof and causing the other end to engage the plate 17 and push downwardly thereon while pulling upwardly on the pivotal connections 32 and, therefore, on the body portion of the bench, and the ends of the levers 31 may be provided with rollers 34 to facilitate this operation and also to prevent the under side of the cover being marred by the ends of the levers should it be closed when the levers are out of their horizontal position.

The pivotal connections between the plates 17 and the pivot plates 15 of the leg members have sufficient play to permit of the change in angularity of the plate 17 with respect to the body portion during the change in height of the bench without binding.

By means of this invention a neat and attractive appearing piano bench is provided with legs which telescope within sleeves of the body portion for varying the height of Ithe bench without materially altering the appearance of the bench, and the change in adjustment may be readily accomplished by simply pulling upwardly on the levers 31 for raising the bench or pressing the toggle links 26 out of the locking notches at the ends of the slots 30 and allowing the body portion of the bench to descend by its own weight for lowering the bench.

While the specific construction of a particular form of means for raising and lowering the body portion of the bench on the leg members has been shown and described, the

invention is not confined thereto, as any other desirable mechanism may be substituted without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, and obviously, the adjustments of the bench may be accomplished without a change in angularity thereof, though this feature is very desirable.

It is also apparent that when it is desired to remove the leg members for convenience in shipping it is only necessary to withdraw the cotter pins 19, when the leg members may be lifted through the sleeves 12 and shoes 35 which are set into the ends of the leg members to avoid scratching the floor.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A piano bench, comprising a body portion, sleeves at the corners thereof, leg members slidably mounted in the sleeves, a connecting member connecting the leg members at each end of the bench, and means for raising and lowering the body portion with respect to the connecting member and to a greater extent at one end of the connecting member than at the other end thereof.

2. A piano bench, comprising a body portion, sleeves at the corners thereof, leg members slidably mounted in the sleeves, a connecting member pivotally connected with the leg members at each end of the bench, toggle links connecting the connecting member with the body portion, and means for spreading the toggle links.

3. A piano bench, comprising a body portion, sleeves at the corners thereof, leg members slidably mounted in the sleeves, a connecting member pivotally' connected with the leg members at each end'of the bench, toggle links connecting the connecting member with the body portion, and means for spreading the toggle links, said toggle links being crossed and pivoted together at the point of crossing nearer to one end of the toggle links than to the other end thereof whereby the angularity of the body portion with respect to the floor is varied with the change in height thereof.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

CHRISTIAN H. MARTIN.

Witnesses: r

J. A. ARBOGAST, P. R. MILLER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing'the Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. G. 7 

